Longhorns host Wildcats in Big 12 tussle

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/26/2007 - Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Big 12 rivals will collide in Austin this weekend as the seventh-ranked Texas Longhorns take on the Kansas State Wildcats.

Kansas State is coming off a bye week and opens the league portion of its schedule on Saturday. The Wildcats, who lost to Auburn in the season opener on the road, have posted back-to-back victories over weak opponents San Jose State and Missouri State.

Texas is 4-0 this season and is coming off a 58-14 thrashing of Rice. The Longhorns have not been dominant in all of their contests, but the fact that they survived a couple of scares speaks to their character. It may be tough to focus on this game, as a matchup with rival Oklahoma is on the docket next week.

Texas holds a 5-4 edge in the all-time series with Kansas State despite a 45-42 loss to the Wildcats last season.

Kansas State cruised to the 61-10 victory over lowly Missouri State, and the Wildcat offense moved the ball at will. With 30 first downs and 546 total yards, the numbers tell the story of complete domination. James Johnson paced the ground attack with 114 rushing yards and three touchdowns, while quarterback Josh Freeman completed 26-of-39 passes for 287 and one touchdown. The star of the game for the offense was wideout Jordy Nelson, as he made 15 catches for 209 yards and a score. Add to that stat line a touchdown pass by Nelson on a trick play. Kansas State is averaging 36.0 ppg and 429.0 total ypg, but those numbers aren't a strong indication of this team's ability. Don't forget, this same squad had trouble moving the ball against Auburn in the opener. Freeman has completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 827 yards through three outings, but he has just two touchdown passes against four interceptions. Johnson has rushed for 239 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 6.3 ypc, and Nelson has already made 30 catches.

As expected, the Kansas State defense played well against Missouri State. The Wildcats yielded just 10 points in the clash and 191 total yards. They did a tremendous job of getting off the field on third down, as Missouri State made good on just 4-of-16 conversion attempts. Kansas State finished with five sacks and avoided big plays. Opponents are scoring 15.7 ppg against the Wildcats, who are yielding 258.3 total ypg. The run defense has been outstanding, as K-State is surrendering fewer than two yards per rushing attempt. The pass defense has been strong as well, as opposing quarterbacks are gaining an even 10 yards per completion. Justin McKinney leads KSU with 22 total tackles, and Ross Diehl has 2.5 sacks.

Texas racked up 58 points against Rice, including 41 points in the first half. With 560 total yards, the Longhorns could seemingly do no wrong. Quarterback Colt McCoy has come under fire for his shaky play this season, but he was tremendous on Saturday, completing 20-of-29 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Limas Sweed was outstanding on the outside, hauling in five receptions for 139 yards and two scores. As for the ground attack, Jamaal Charles reached the end zone three times on 14 carries. Texas is scoring 37.0 ppg while posting 450.8 total ypg, but those numbers were obviously bolstered by the beatdown on Rice. McCoy had five interceptions and four touchdowns heading into the Rice game, so while his numbers improved tremendously, he needs to prove himself against better competition. There is plenty of talent at receiver, so there can be no excuse if the quarterback fails this week. Charles is a force at tailback, as he has rushed for 471 yards and six touchdowns.

The defensive effort of the Longhorns in the victory over Rice has to be viewed as a positive. They were outstanding against the run, limiting the Owls to minus-11 rushing yards on 30 attempts. While 68 yards was gained on the ground by Rice, 79 yards were lost, due in large part to five sacks. While Texas did yield 279 passing yards, two interceptions were registered. Obviously, many of those yards were accumulated after the outcome of the tilt had long been decided. Lamarr Houston made four TFLs. Opponents are scoring only 18.0 ppg against Texas, which is yielding 310.5 total ypg. The defensive unit has been outstanding at stopping the run, as opponents are only gaining 2.5 ypc on the ground. Against the pass, the 'Horns have registered five interceptions while yielding only two touchdowns through the air. Marcus Griffin has made 38 total tackles for Texas, 11 more than his closest teammate.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

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